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Nuggets unsure of themselves

Karl tries to calm team before Game 5

By Benjamin HochmanThe Denver Post

Posted:
04/29/2013 11:05:06 PM MDT

Updated:
04/29/2013 11:05:14 PM MDT

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even a stress-relieving tablet left a bad taste in George Karl's mouth.

On Monday, at the team's hotel in San Francisco, the Nuggets' coach left a meeting while smacking on a tablet, explaining, "They're herbal non-stress tablets, and they don't taste very good. It's for stress and mood enhancement."

Safe to say the guy has some stress.

It's Karl's job to change the mood of his team, down 3-1 to Golden State in the first round Western Conference playoff series. And reduce the stress. His No. 3-seeded Nuggets have been uptight and out of sync almost from the start.

A Nuggets' loss and a historic season is abruptly over. A victory and Denver stays afloat in the best-of-seven series, trying to become just the ninth team to fall behind 3-1 and win a series.

"It's about sticking together," Nuggets guard Andre Iguodala said Monday. "We can't really fray apart or get too frustrated with the game. We've got to keep trying to find what got us where we're at (as the No. 3 seed)."

If all of this frustration stuff sounds familiar, it is. Last spring the Nuggets trailed the Lakers 3-1, before winning two games to force a Game 7, which Denver lost in Los Angeles. So, for all the disappointment with Denver's playoff showing this year, at least there's some optimism based on history. If Denver is able to force a Game 7 this week, it will be played at Pepsi Center on Saturday."It's a basketball game. It's not an impossible task," Karl said. "Taking their confidence and even their enthusiasm away is going to be a great challenge.

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NBA basketball, it usually takes one game to turn around your confidence. We're the team without confidence right now and they're the team with confidence. We (need) defense and the pass; we've got to get the pass back in the offensive end of the court."

Simply put, the Nuggets haven't looked like the Nuggets. The crew that won 57 regular season games, most in Nuggets NBA history, thrived on a flood-like flow of points in transition. And, in the half-court game, they pentrated to the lane for close-in shots. And, they even played some "D."

In this series Golden State is playing more Nuggets-y than the Nuggets, notably in Game 4, when the Warriors held Denver to 36 points in the paint, 22 under Denver's season average. In Sunday's loss, Golden State's biggest lead was 23, which was also the number of Denver turnovers, the same as its regular season-high. Denver had 14 assists, just one more than its season low.

"We have to share the ball," said Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson. "I'm pretty sure if you go to the film, there are a lot of shots where it's crowded and one more swing (pass) and that person is open. Or we made that pass late or (off-target)."

The Stephen Curry debate is fascinating. Is it him or the defense? Or a combination? The Golden State sharpshooter has lit up Denver like Larimer Square at night. He's averaging 27.3 points per game and 10.0 assists. Yes, he's only played four games so far, but according to ESPN Stats & Info, only five other players in NBA history have averaged 25 points and 10 assists in a single postseason (minimum 4 games). Those players are Allen Iverson, Tim Hardaway, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Oscar Robertson, who did it twice.

"They have a way of punishing your mistakes," Karl said. "They don't punish them with jump shots. They punish them with 3-balls. I just remember that we were chasing a double team and they found him at the top of the key wide open -- boom -- and then he decided he could make one from 30 feet -- boom -- and then he made one out of the corner looking at the bench. He has this incredible rhythm.

"It's easy to score a lot of points when you make 3s, it adds up pretty quickly. And, you know, we could mix up the matchups and we probably will. Right now we've got to do something. There's no question that we've got to make some type of change."

It's possible Denver could start Corey Brewer at shooting guard. He started the second half of Game 4 at shooting guard for the rookie Evan Fournier. But, as Karl suggested Monday, this series isn't only about Xs and Os. It's about heart.

And last week, before the Nuggets headed to San Francisco, they left their heart in Denver.

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